1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a print setting method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in association with the spread of digital cameras, it is a general case that photograph images (hereinbelow, also simply referred to as photo images) obtained by photographing objects by the user are stored as electronic data and distributed to his family and acquaintances through the Internet or a memory card.
In addition to it, in association with the realization of high picture quality of a printing apparatus (hereinbelow, also simply referred to as a printer), it is a general case that the photo images obtained by photographing the objects by the user by using the digital camera or obtained by being provided from another person are output by the printer in his own house.
When the photo images are output by the printer, it is a general case that in an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, the photo images are output to dedicated paper for photo printing (hereinbelow, called “photo paper”) by using an application for outputting the photo images.
Upon outputting, in the application in the information processing apparatus, as printing conditions to the printer, it is necessary for the user to set a size, a type, and the like of sheets (photo paper) which have been set in the printer so as to output. The “size” is hereinbelow called an “output sheet” and the “type” is hereinbelow called a “media type”.
When a print executing command is received from the user, the application executes an issuing process of a print command according to an OS (Operating System) in which the application is working and a print system which is provided by the OS.
For example, the application is working on the OS such as “Windows (registered trademark) XP”, “Windows (registered trademark) 2000”, or the like issues the print command according to a format of the print system called a GDI print path which is provided by the OS. The “GDI” is an abbreviation of Graphics Device Interface.
In the print command issuing process according to the GDI print path, after a print control apparatus was notified of the printing conditions, drawing area information according to the printer which prints and outputs and the sheet is obtained. Subsequently, a draw command is issued by using the obtained drawing area information and a document such as a photo image or the like and the print control apparatus is notified of the draw command.
In “Windows (registered trademark) Vista”, in addition to the above-described GDI print path, a print system called an XPS (XML Paper Specification) print path is newly provided.
In a print command issuing process according to the XPS print path, the document such as a photo image or the like, the printing conditions, and the draw command are formed as one document file (hereinbelow, called an “XPS document”) and the print control apparatus is notified of the XPS document.
In the print control apparatus, when the print command is issued by the application, prior to executing an image process, whether or not the notified printing conditions are settings suitable for the printer is discriminated.
The following control method has generally been known. That is, if the output sheets and media types supported by the printer have already been set, the image process according to the output sheet and media type which have been set as printing conditions is executed. If the output sheet and media type which are not supported by the printer have been set, the set output sheet and media type are determined to be invalid, they are replaced with the predetermined regular output sheet and media type, and the image process is executed.
There has also been known a method of controlling in such a manner that if a substitutive printer exists, the printer which supports the set output sheet and media type is searched for and the photo images are printed and output from such a printer (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-035867).
There is such a service that the document such as a photo image or the like is provided and distributed to an unspecified large number of users by using Web, E-mail, or the like and downloaded to the PC of the user himself and the printing is executed. In such a service, it is a general method that after the document was downloaded, the user himself sets printing conditions (sheet type, print quality) adapted to the device which prints, and the printing is executed.
As mentioned above, if the output sheets and media types supported by the printer have been set, the image process according to the output sheet and media type set as printing conditions is executed. Therefore, when the photo images are output by the printer, the output sheet and media type adapted to the photo paper set in the printer so as to output are correctly selected from the output sheets and media types supported by the printer. By such a method, a user's desired print result can be derived.
However, if the output sheet and media type which are not supported by the printer or the output sheet and media type which are not adapted to the photo paper set in the printer so as to output have been selected, the image process which is not adapted to the photo paper set in the printer is executed. There is, consequently, a risk that an unexpected print result in which print data is partially dropped out, the expected picture quality is not obtained, or the like is caused and the photo paper and ink are wastefully consumed.
According to circumstances, there is also a risk that since the image process or the sheet feeding operation of the printer side which is not adapted to the photo paper set in the printer is executed, an inconvenience of the printer side is also caused.
Therefore, to obtain a desired print result, it is necessary to properly set the output sheet and media type, as printing conditions, adapted to the photo paper set in the printer so as to output. However, to properly set the printing conditions, several subjects exist.
As a first subject, the user has to previously grasp the output sheet and media type adapted to the photo paper onto which the print data is printed and output.
Since characteristics of the printers differ depending on the products, upon outputting the photo image, even if the same photo paper is used, there are many cases where the media types to be set differ depending on the printer. In addition, as for the output sheets and media types supported by the printer, both of the set values for printing a photograph and the set values for printing one of a document and a New Year's card exist.
In consideration of them, the user has to find out the output sheet and media type adapted to the photo paper set in the printer so as to output from the output sheets and media types supported by the printer.
As a method which has hitherto been used for allowing the user to grasp the output sheet and media type adapted to the photo paper set in the printer, the following methods can be mentioned.
1. Description in an electronic manual attached as a package at the time of the purchase of the printer
2. Description on the Home page of the maker which has put the printer on sale
3. Description on a package of the photo paper or in a manual attached together with the photo paper
4. Description on the side which provides a document such as a photo image or the like
However, according to the above methods, the user himself has to be aware of a fact that the description has been written and correctly understand the contents and, eventually, the user himself has to set the printing conditions before the print start. Consequently, there is also a possibility of occurrence of an erroneous operation and it is difficult to say that the proper printing conditions could certainly be set. In addition, there is also such a problem that in the case where the user purchases a new printer or the like, he has to grasp the proper printing conditions again, or the like.
As a second subject, each time the application is activated and the printing is executed, the printing conditions have to be set although such a point is not particularly limited to the photo printing.
In the application according to the GDI print path, a possibility that the printing conditions which have been set at a point of time when the document such as a photo image or the like is opened indicate default values which have been predetermined by an outputting apparatus is high. This is because since the printing conditions are not embedded in the document such as a photo image or the like, it is necessary to set other printing conditions as initial settings in place of the above printing conditions.
It is a general case that the default printing conditions which have been predetermined by the outputting apparatus are the set values suitable for document printing. Therefore, when the photo image is printed and output, each time the application is activated (each time the photo image is output), the printing conditions suitable for the photo printing have to be correctly set. It is difficult to say that the use convenience is high.
As mentioned above, according to the XPS document, the document such as a photo image or the like, the printing conditions, and the draw command can be collected as one document file.
Therefore, so long as the user has correctly grasped the output sheet and media type to be set as printing conditions, the XPS document in which the proper printing conditions have been embedded together with the document such as a photo image or the like is preliminarily formed. Consequently, such a troublesomeness that the printing conditions are set again each time the application is activated (each time the photo image is output) can be omitted.
In addition, in the case of providing the document such as a photo image or the like by using the Internet, E-mail, or the like, the XPS document in which the proper printing conditions have previously been embedded together with the document such as a photo image or the like is provided. By using such a method, it is considered that upon printing and outputting, it is unnecessary for the user who received the provided document to be particularly conscious of the setting of the output sheet and media type.
However, there is a case where since the characteristics of the printers differ depending on the products as mentioned above, the media types to be set differ according to the printers. In addition, since the characteristics differ depending on not only the products but also the districts where the products are sold, there is also considered a case where the output sheets which are supported differ depending on the printers.
Therefore, even if the document such as a photo image or the like is provided as an XPS document, a possibility that the output sheet and media type embedded as printing conditions are not adapted to the printer which the user possesses is not so low.
Particularly, in the case of providing the document such as a photo image or the like to an unspecified large number of users like a photograph providing service by the Web site or the like, the users have a variety of printers. In such a case, it can be said that a possibility that the output sheet and media type embedded as printing conditions together with the photo image are not adapted to the printer possessed by the user who received the provided photo image is fairly high.
A case where the output sheet and media type embedded as printing conditions together with the photo image are not adapted to the printer possessed by the user who received the provided photo image is now considered. In such a case, eventually, when the user prints and outputs the photo image, the output sheet and media type adapted to the printer possessed by the user have to be correctly set again as printing conditions.
Even if the side which provided the document such as a photo image or the like has embedded, as an XPS document, the document such as a photo image or the like, the printing conditions, and the draw command, in the case of providing the document to an unspecified large number of users, the foregoing two subjects cannot be improved.